Blues use power play to get past Wild

Hockey Betting Lines

03/15/2009 - St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brad Boyes had a goal and an assist, and the St. Louis Blues dealt another blow to Minnesota's playoff hopes by topping the Wild, 5-3.

Keith Tkachuk, Brad Winchester, David Backes and David Perron scored for the Blues, who have won seven of 10 overall. Chris Mason made 19 saves to earn the victory.

Andrew Brunette, Stephane Veilleux and Marc-Andre Bergeron tallied a goal apiece for the Wild, who have lost four straight and five of six to remain a point out of playoff contention, behind Edmonton and Nashville. Niklas Backstrom allowed four goals on 29 shots in the first two periods to receive the loss, and Josh Harding made six saves in a perfect third.

The Blues scored the game's first goal at the 14:44 mark of the first. Backes emerged from a scrum in front of the net with the puck and fluttered it toward the net. Backstrom fanned on an attempted glove save, as he watched the puck go behind him.

In a 1:17 span early in the second period, Cal Clutterbuck was given a double minor for high sticking, and Marek Zidlicky was whistled for a delay-of-game and St. Louis capitalized with a pair of 5-on-3 scores. Tkachuk made it 2-0 after stuffing home a rebound at the 6:37 mark, and a wrister by Perron from the left circle gave the Blues a 3-0 edge 1:31 later.

Minnesota got one of the goals back late in the middle frame. With 5:02 left to play, Brunette found a loose puck out in front of the net and hammered it home before Mason was able to locate it.

Winchester tallied for St. Louis with 30 seconds left to restore the team's three-goal lead, 4-1, at the end of two periods.

The Wild mounted a late comeback, with Veilleux scoring at 7:50 of the third and Bergeron tallying on a wrister with 5:36 left to play.

Backstrom was pulled in the final minute, but Boyes sealed it with an empty- net goal for St. Louis.

Game Notes

St. Louis won the season series, 3-1-0, taking a season slate from Minnesota for the first time since the 2002-03 season...The Blues went 3-for-7 on the power play, while Minnesota failed on two chances...The Wild fell to 14-18-2 on the road, while St. Louis improved to 19-13-5 at home.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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